Chapter Six: A Bad Day
Damien was left alone and immobile. Alexa walked away after hearing him out, leaving him to reflect on himself. Some time later, he tried using Break It again, muttering the words, but nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working ?" Damien thought, still stuck.
A long time later, he saw Alexa approaching with someone else. As they got closer, all Damien could think was, 'I have cheap powers or something.'
"Demons, can we make a deal and forget about all this? Of course, I won't sell my soul, but maybe we can work something out," Damien shouted as they came near, close enough for him to recognize Paola.
'That explains a lot, ' Damien thought, connecting the dots about the 'future. Wait… are they from the future?'
Before he could adjust his strategy, Alexa walked up to him with a wide, fake smile.
"Damien, how are you?" His face remained expressionless, though he didn't realize it.
"Fine." His voice had lost its warmth.
Something inside Damien shifted, and instinct took over. He was never good at masking his emotions, and everyone around him knew it.
"Time alone really makes you think, huh? Sad boy," Alexa said.
Damien was thinking about how to kill Paola.
He didn't care much about Alexa. Sure, she could probably kill him—but she had issues, and her death would likely be a relief to everyone around her. But Paola…
Damien wanted an excuse to kill her.
And when his God gave him a mission, he used it, whether he remembered her or not. He didn't need a complex reason. Still, if she was protected by her own God, that complicated things.
"If I may ask… what do you want from me? I'm not special."
He decided to gamble on the idea that they couldn't physically hurt him.
They stayed silent. None of them seemed clear on what the rules were.
"That depends," Paola said, slowly stepping closer. "Would you believe that God exists and chose you?"
"You'll need a better excuse. What kind of God would do this?" Damien wasn't going to admit anything until God told him to.
"You don't pray," she muttered next to him. "They hear you when you're being tortured, and no one comes. So… why would my God stop me?"
A smile crept onto Damien's face. "Why would your God choose me? Why would I follow it?"
He remembered all the times he begged for help, and no one came.
"You don't need to know. And do you even have a choice?" She placed her hand on his face. Damien felt it.
He stayed silent, digesting this new information.
"What would you ask for, to follow this God?" he asked. "I'm not going to kill anyone."
Damien didn't want to abandon his God. He was just looking for a reason to keep going. Many cultures had survived by hiding their beliefs from outsiders. He would do the same.
For the first time, Paola gave him a real smile.
"Don't worry. We'll ask you to do things, and you'll do them without question. But it..."
"No way. I'm not doing the creepy, weird things Alexa does. I'll end up in a hospital or prison." Damien cut her off before she could finish.
"F*** you! What's that supposed to mean?" Alexa, silent until now, exploded.
"You know what I mean. I got punched for less. Just kill me. I can deal with that." Without hesitation, Alexa leaned close to his ear and...
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She screamed.
They began arguing. Alexa shouted repeatedly, and Damien, despite being immobile, poured out all the hatred he felt about this situation. They ignored Paola as the fight escalated.
"Enough. You can argue later," Paola finally snapped. She had to yell to break the tension. "You'll do what I tell you. End of story."
"But..." Alexa tried to protest.
"You told him. He said no. You tell me if he needs to do it." Alexa looked into Damien's eyes. "Dear Lord… if you say no without a reason, you'll want to die. Got it?"
"…Yeah."
"…Yeah."
Alexa and Paola walked away, leaving Damien with his thoughts. He was tired. He just wanted to go home. One second more and...
"Are you ready, slave?" Alexa had come back.
"Yeah, second class." Damien was exhausted. He just wanted to leave.
"Move."
Damien felt the sting from her slap before. The headache from the earlier scream hadn't faded either. He stood, torn between going to class or going home. And just then..
A scream echoed.
Everything went black.
* * * * * *
Hello,
I've been researching what it takes to get a contract here, the challenges, the benefits, and honestly, I feel lost. I looked into other novels that have received contracts on this platform and how much they can earn. From what I've seen, it doesn't look very promising.
There's a lot of conflict and uncertainty around getting a contract here. But until I actually have one in my hands, I won't know what's real and what's just speculation.
In short, it feels like a losing battle.
Of course, they have to want to offer one, and I'm not sure that will happen in my case. If I ever do receive an offer, I'll look into it more seriously.